Masquerade of a Champion
by akathine
Summary: Alfred is a child boxing prodigy who looks up to the famous world champion, Ivan Braginski. When Alfred hears his idol is going to be in town, he does anything to meet him, and beats Ivan's record, hoping for him to be happy that he stands on equal grounds. Instead, Ivan becomes furious and claims he will defeat Alfred - even if it kills him.


Ivan got ready for the big event soon to happen. He put on his gloves and moved his arms around, making them less stiff. He punched the air a few times, from the left and right. His trainer, a tall blonde man by the name of Ludwig, yelled in his ear, urging him to beat his opponent to the ground. His head nodded in response, but the trainer's voice was almost lost in the sea of noises all around him.

There was so much noise. From the crowd looking for blood, the reporters shoving mics in others faces, and the announcer. All of it hurt Ivan's ears a bit, but compared to what he'd feel later was nothing. His eyes swept across the sea of faces, stopping on his sisters. They had worried looks on their faces, but Ivan smiled at them. The smile said 'I'm okay. This is for you.' His ears picked up the announcer introducing both of the fighters. The smiled wiped from his face, he turned to stare into the eyes of the person in the corner opposite.

Nothing was going to distract him though from his target. He bit down hard on the mouth guard, face set into a glare as a silent staring contest was exchanged between the two. He's going down, was his final thought as the bell rang.

Mathew flinched as Alfred, his brother, leapt up from the couch and yelled at the TV. "Now that's what I'm talking about! Destroy that loser!" He added a few air punches to his statement, all while grinning like an idiot. When the man on the screen delivered a particularly hard blow to the other's face, he cheered and sat, clapping as if they could hear him.

"Man," Alfred laughed, sitting back on the couch. "Ivan Braginski is by far the best boxer ever!" He looked at his brother, waiting for his usual response.

'It's like this every time,' Matthew thought with a sigh. 'Every Monday night, every time he won. He's got such a big man crush on him, it's scary.' "Yes Alfred, he's the greatest in the world. Horray." He said with mock enthusiasm while rolling his eyes.

Alfred leaned over and ruffled Matthew's hair, something he hated since he was little. "Oh, boo you. You don't understand man. Boxing is the manliest sport ever, and that man," he explained, pointing at the screen, "Is the awesomest person I know."

"You've never even met him!" Matthew pointed out, throwing his hands up to fix his hair.

Alfred whipped his head in Matthew's direction, eyes shining with hope. "That may be true now, but just wait till he comes to town!"

"Huh?" This part of the conversation was new to Matthew. 'To this town? Why would he come here?' Matthew was asking himself.

"Yeah dude! You'll never believe this!" Alfred was practically bouncing, excitement plain on his face. "There's a tournament happening not far from here in a week, and he's totally going to be there! Can you believe it?!" The blonde was all but yelling, face close to his brother's.

Feeling the happiness leak off Alfred, Matthew pushed him away. "Wow, that's pretty cool. Now you can finally meet your crush." He smiled when Alfred blushed at his statement. "When is it? Maybe I'll come." In all honesty, Matthew just wanted to spend time with his brother. Seeing him hyped up made anyone around him happy.

"That's the problem. I have no way of getting in the place! Coach said it's a pretty closed off torney, only reporters and fighters allowed!" The look on Alfred's face was pure agony, as if it hurt not going. 'Knowing how much he loves boxing, it probably does!' Matthew realized.

"Man, that's really sad." He pat his brother's back, hoping to comfort him. "But hey, maybe you can meet him after the match? Like, outside the place their holding it?"

After hearing idea, Alfred grinned. "You're right! I can totally get his autograph, his number, oh! Maybe it'll be like in the movies where the athlete throws you their shirt and-!" His mouth spewed out all the words, not paying attention to anything except his thoughts. Laughing, Matthew observed his over active brother before clamping a hand over his mouth.

"Okay, okay. That's enough excitement for one day. We'll go after your training at the gym." Matthew say Alfred's eyes light up and the next thing he knew, he had arms around his shoulders.

"Oh, thank you thank you thank you! You're the best brother in the world!" He let go and a bright smile took up his face. "I'm not sure I could have gone alone anyway." He confessed with a laugh.

His smile was infectious, and Matthew laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure you would have died from embarrassment." Matthew put the back of his hand against his forehead and mocked Alfred's voice, "'Oh Ivan! You're so cool! If only I was as good as you!'" Matthew ended with a chuckle that died off when he saw Alfred's face. It was etched with realization.

"Oh my god," Alfred's realization turned into one of horror. "You're right! What if he sees me and laughs?! Am I big enough to even be in his presence?! Oh Mattie, what am I going to do?!" He had Matthew's shoulders in his hands and he was close to shaking him.

"Ah, no Al, t-that's not true. You're fine! Perfectly fine." 'He always did over react to things. Why did I do that?' Matthew asked himself.

"I'm not good enough to meet him! I've got to do something to catch up with him!" A look of determination replaced the old one and he let go of Matthew's shoulders. He got up, leaving his confused brother to wonder what he's up to next.

His thoughts were cut short as Alfred bounded down the stairs with a large book in his hands. Alfred jumped on his spot on the couch and shoved the book in Matthew's stomach. "Go to page thirty six!"

"Yeah, I will after my belly stops bruising." He said, rubbing said place. Sighing and not quite ready to see what Alfred had planned, he opened to thirty six.

On the page was Ivan Braginski posing in a boxing stance, which one, Matthew didn't know. Next to him was a blurb of words. He read out loud, "Ivan Braginski, twenty two, is a champion in the world of boxing, and now in the world of records. In 2009, Ivan broke the world record for fastest knock out in a fight. The previous record (one minute eleven seconds) was broken when Braginski knocked out Jack Wallace in forty seconds flat." Matthew had a very bad feeling about this.

"You see that? If I can beat that record, I'll be able to put myself in front of Ivan, making him see me as an equal! My plan is full proof!" His triumphant smile sagged a bit when Matthew looked at him unsurely.

"Alfred," He said, using his brother's full first name. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

With no hesitation, he nodded. "Matthew. I need to do this."

After some seconds of staring, Matthew sighed, closed the book, and with a tired look, said "When do you want to start?"

Alfred never looked happier.


End file.
